Semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment, disclosed is a semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor structure which comprises a first conductive semiconductor layer, a second conductive semiconductor layer, and an active layer disposed between the first conductive semiconductor layer and the second conductive semiconductor layer; a first electrode which is electrically connected to the first conductive semiconductor layer; and a second electrode which is electrically connected to the second conductive semiconductor layer, wherein an area ratio between an area of an upper surface of the second conductive semiconductor layer and an area of an outer surface of the active layer is 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the National Phase of PCT International ApplicationNo. PCT/KR2019/003346, filed on Mar. 22, 2019, which claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to Patent Application No. 10-2018-0033356, filedin the Republic of Korea on Mar. 22, 2018, all of which are herebyexpressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate to a semiconductor device.

BACKGROUND ART

A light-emitting diode (LED) is one of light-emitting devices that emitlight when current is applied. The LED may emit high-efficiency light ata low voltage and thus has an excellent energy saving effect. Recently,since the luminance problem of the LED has been significantly improved,LEDs are being applied to various devices such as backlight units ofliquid crystal display devices, electric signboards, indicators, andhome appliances.

Further, studies for reducing the size of a light-emitting device areactively being conducted in various fields. For example, in a displayfield, resolution may be improved as the size of the light-emittingdevice decreases.

However, there is a problem in that reduced optical output power isprovided when current density decreases as the size of thelight-emitting device decreases.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

An embodiment is directed to providing a semiconductor device.

An embodiment is also directed to providing a semiconductor devicehaving luminous flux which is improved at low current density.

An embodiment is also directed to providing a semiconductor device withimproved optical output power.

Problems to be solved in the embodiments are not limited to theabove-described problems, and objects and effects which can bedetermined from the solutions and the embodiments of the problemsdescribed below are also included.

Technical Solution

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes asemiconductor structure including a first conductive semiconductorlayer, a second conductive semiconductor layer, and an active layerdisposed between the first conductive semiconductor layer and the secondconductive semiconductor layer, a first electrode electrically connectedto the first conductive semiconductor layer, and a second electrodeelectrically connected to the second conductive semiconductor layer,wherein a ratio of an area of an upper surface of the second conductivesemiconductor layer and an area of outer side surfaces of the activelayer is in a range of 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01.

The semiconductor structure may include a first upper surface on whichthe first electrode is disposed, a second upper surface on which thesecond electrode is disposed, and an inclined surface disposed betweenthe first upper surface and the second upper surface, and the activelayer may include a first-first outer side surface which is exposed atthe inclined surface, and a first-second outer side surface other thanthe first-first outer side surface.

A ratio of a first minimum height from a bottom surface of thesemiconductor structure to the second upper surface and a second minimumheight from the bottom surface of the semiconductor structure to thefirst upper surface may be in a range of 1:0.6 to 1:0.95.

A difference between the first minimum height and the second minimumheight may be less than 2 μm.

The active layer may include a well layer and a barrier layer which arealternately disposed, and the number of each of the well layer and thebarrier layer may be from 1 to 10.

The semiconductor device may further include a coupling layer disposedbelow the semiconductor structure, and a sacrificial layer disposedbelow the coupling layer.

The semiconductor device may further include an intermediate layerdisposed between the coupling layer and the semiconductor structure.

The intermediate layer may include GaAs.

A minimum distance between the first-first outer side surface and thesecond upper surface may be less than a minimum distance between thefirst-first outer side surface and the first upper surface.

The inclined surface may form a first angle with respect to a virtualhorizontal plane, a side surface of the semiconductor structure may forma second angle with respect to the horizontal plane, and the first anglemay be less than the second angle.

The first angle may be in a range of 60° to 80°, and the second anglemay be in a range of 70° to 90°.

Advantageous Effects

According to embodiments, it is possible to implement a semiconductordevice.

Further, it is possible to manufacture a semiconductor device havingluminous flux which is improved at low current density.

Further, it is possible to manufacture a semiconductor device withimproved optical output power.

Various advantages and effects of the present invention are not limitedto the above description and can be more easily understood during thedescription of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a semiconductor device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor device accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the semiconductor device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating light efficiency with respect to currentdensity for each area of a second upper surface shown in Table 1.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are graphs respectively illustrating an S value withrespect to current density and an ideality factor for each area of thesecond upper surface shown in Table 1.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating external quantum efficiency (EQE) withrespect to current density for the number of well layers/barrier layers.

FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a ratio of an area of outer side surfacesof an active layer and the area of the second upper surface for thenumber of well layers/barrier layers.

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating relative optical output power withrespect to the number of well layers/barrier layers for the area of thesecond upper surface.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device according toanother embodiment.

FIGS. 10A to 10F are sequence diagrams illustrating a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 11A to 11E are sequence diagrams illustrating a process oftransferring the semiconductor device according to one embodiment to adisplay apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of a display apparatus to which thesemiconductor device according to the embodiment is transferred.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

While the present invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, particular exemplary embodiments thereof are shown byway of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail.It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit thepresent invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on thecontrary, the present invention is to cover particular modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” andthe like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elementsshould not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one element from another. For example, a first element couldbe termed a second element, and a second element could similarly betermed a first element without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present.

The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particularexemplary embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting to thepresent invention. As used herein, singular forms are intended toinclude plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. In the present application, it will be further understoodthat the terms “comprise,” “comprising,” “include,” and/or “including”,when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/orgroups thereof but do not preclude the presence or addition of one ormore other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, componentsand/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein including technical orscientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood byone of ordinary skill in the art. It should be further understood thatterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and are not to be interpreted in anidealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Regardless ofreference numerals, like numbers refer to like elements throughout thedescription of the figures, and the description of the same elementswill be not reiterated.

In addition, a semiconductor device package according to the presentembodiment may include a small-sized semiconductor device. Here, thesmall-sized semiconductor device may refer to a structural size of asemiconductor device. In addition, the small-sized semiconductor devicemay have a structural size of several micrometers to several hundreds ofmicrometers. In addition, the semiconductor device according to theembodiment may have a structural size of 30 μm to 60 μm as will bedescribed below, but the present invention is not necessarily limitedthereto. In addition, technical features or aspects of embodiments maybe applied to a semiconductor device with a smaller size scale.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a semiconductor device according to oneembodiment, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductordevice according to one embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of thesemiconductor device according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the semiconductor device according toone embodiment may include a semiconductor structure 140, a firstelectrode 151, a second electrode 152, and an insulating layer 160.

Specifically, the semiconductor device may include a sacrificial layer120, a coupling layer 130 disposed on the sacrificial layer 120, anintermediate layer 170 disposed on the coupling layer 130, a firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 disposed on the intermediate layer170, a first clad layer 144 disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer, an active layer 142 disposed on the first cladlayer 144, a second conductive semiconductor layer 143 disposed on theactive layer 142, the first electrode 151 electrically connected to thefirst conductive semiconductor layer, the second electrode 152electrically connected to the second conductive semiconductor layer, andthe insulating layer 160 surrounding the sacrificial layer 120, thecoupling layer 130, the first conductive semiconductor layer 141, thefirst clad layer 144, the active layer 142, and the second conductivesemiconductor layer 143.

First, the sacrificial layer 120 may be a layer disposed at a lowermostportion of the semiconductor device according to the embodiment. Thatis, the sacrificial layer 120 may be a layer disposed at an outermostside in a first-second direction (X₂ direction). The sacrificial layer120 may be disposed on a substrate (not shown).

Here, a first direction (X direction) includes a first-first direction(X₁ direction) and the first-second direction (X₂ direction) in athickness direction of the semiconductor structure 140. The first-firstdirection (X₁ direction) is a direction toward the second conductivesemiconductor layer 143 from the first conductive semiconductor layer141 among thickness directions of the semiconductor structure 140. Inaddition, the first-second direction is a direction toward the firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 from the second conductivesemiconductor layer 143 among the thickness directions of thesemiconductor structure 140 and is a direction opposite to thefirst-first direction. Also, here, a second direction (Y direction) maybe a direction perpendicular to the first direction (X direction). Inaddition, the second direction (Y direction) includes a second-firstdirection (Y₁ direction) and a second-second direction (Y₂ direction),and the second-first direction (Y₁ direction) is a direction opposite tothe second-second direction (Y₂ direction).

The sacrificial layer 120 may be a layer that remains when thesemiconductor device is transferred to a display apparatus. For example,when the semiconductor device is transferred to the display apparatus,the sacrificial layer 120 may be separated from the semiconductor deviceby laser light emitted during the transfer. For example, a portion ofthe sacrificial layer 120 may be separated by the laser light, and theremaining portion thereof may be left. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto and the sacrificial layer 120 may be completelyremoved. The sacrificial layer 120 may include a material that isseparable at a wavelength of the emitted laser light, and the wavelengthof the laser light may be one of 266 nm, 532 nm, and 1064 nm, but thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

The sacrificial layer 120 may include an oxide or a nitride. However,the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, thesacrificial layer 120 may include an oxide-based material, which is amaterial that is less deformed during epitaxial growth.

The sacrificial layer 120 may include at least one among indium tinoxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO),indium aluminum zinc oxide (IAZO), indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO),indium gallium tin oxide (IGTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tinoxide (ATO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), IZO nitride (IZON), Al—Ga ZnO(AGZO), In—Ga ZnO (IGZO), ZnO, IrO_(x), RuO_(x), NiO, RuO_(x)/ITO,Ni/IrO_(x)/Au, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au/ITO, silver (Ag), nickel (Ni), chromium(Cr), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd),iridium (Ir), tin (Sn), indium (In), ruthenium (Ru), magnesium (Mg),zinc (Zn), platinum (Pt), gold (Au), and hafnium (Hf).

The sacrificial layer 120 may have a thickness of 20 nm or more in thefirst direction (X direction). Preferably, the sacrificial layer 120 mayhave a thickness of 40 nm or more in the first direction (X direction).However, the present invention is not limited to such a length.

The sacrificial layer 120 may be formed using an e-beam evaporationmethod, a thermal evaporation method, a metal-organic chemical vapordeposition (MOCVD) method, a sputtering method, and a pulsed laserdeposition (PLD) method, but the present invention is not limitedthereto.

The coupling layer 130 may be disposed on the sacrificial layer 120. Thecoupling layer 130 may include materials such as SiO₂, SiN_(x), TiO₂,polyimide, and a resin.

The coupling layer 130 may have a thickness of 30 nm to 1 μm. However,the present invention is not limited thereto. Here, the thickness may bea length in an X-axis direction. The coupling layer 130 may be annealedto bond the sacrificial layer 120 and the intermediate layer 170 to eachother. In this case, hydrogen ions are discharged from the couplinglayer 130, and thus delamination may occur. Thus, the coupling layer 130may have a surface roughness of 1 nm or less. With such a configuration,a separation layer (see FIG. 10B) and the coupling layer may be easilybonded to each other. The placement positions of the coupling layer 130and the sacrificial layer 120 may be switched with each other.

The intermediate layer 170 may be disposed on the coupling layer 130.The intermediate layer 170 may include GaAs. The intermediate layer 170may be coupled to the sacrificial layer 120 through the coupling layer130.

Further, the semiconductor structure 140 may be disposed on theintermediate layer 170. The semiconductor structure 140 may include thefirst conductive semiconductor layer 141 disposed on the intermediatelayer 170, the first clad layer 144 disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer, the active layer 142 disposed on the first cladlayer 144, and the second conductive semiconductor layer 143 disposed onthe active layer 142.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may be disposed on theintermediate layer 170. The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 mayhave a thickness of 0.5 μm to 2 μm. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may be implemented with acompound semiconductor including a III-V group element, a II-VI groupelement, or the like and may be doped with a first dopant. The firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 may include a semiconductor materialhaving a composition formula of In_(x)Al_(y)Ga_(1-x-y)P (0=x<=1,0<=y<=1, and 0<=x+y<=1) or In_(x)Al_(y)Ga_(1-x-y)N (0=x<=1, 0<=y<=1, and0<=x+y<=1).

In addition, the first dopant may be an n-type dopant such as Si, Ge,Sn, Se, or Te. When the first dopant is an n-type dopant, the firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 doped with the first dopant may be ann-type semiconductor layer.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may include at least oneamong AlGaP, InGaP, AlInGaP, InP, GaN, InN, AlN, InGaN, AlGaN, InAlGaN,AlInN, AlGaAs, InGaAs, AlInGaAs, and GaP.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may be formed using achemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)method, a sputtering method, a hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE)method, or the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

An etch stop layer (not shown) and a reflective layer (not shown) may bedisposed between the intermediate layer 170 and the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141.

For example, the etch stop layer (not shown) may include GaInP and mayhave a thickness of 100 nm to 200 nm, but the present invention is notlimited thereto. The etch stop layer may limit an etching depth in anetching process.

In addition, the reflective layer (not shown) may have a distributedBragg reflector (DBR) structure and may include, for example, AlGaAs. Inaddition, the reflective layer (not shown) may have a structure in whicha plurality of materials having different composition ratios of Al andGa are alternately stacked. For example, the reflective layer (notshown) may have a structure in which 26 pairs of a first layer includingAl_(0.5)GaAs and having a thickness of 46 nm and a second layerincluding Al_(0.9)GaAs and having a thickness of 51 nm are stacked.However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Thus, the reflective layer (not shown) may reflect light of a certainwavelength. For example, the reflective layer (not shown) may reflectred light. That is, the reflective layer (not shown) may increase thebandwidth of a stop band by applying a multiple DBR rather than a singleDBR, thereby providing an effect of increasing reflectivity andimproving luminous flux. In addition, the reflective layer (not shown)may be formed of a plurality of layers having different refractiveindices.

The first clad layer 144 may be disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141. The first clad layer 144 may be disposedbetween the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 and the activelayer 142. The first clad layer 144 may include a plurality of layers.The first clad layer 144 may include an AlInP-based layer/AlInGaP-basedlayer.

The active layer 142 may be disposed on the first clad layer 144. Theactive layer 142 may be disposed between the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141 and the second conductive semiconductor layer143. The active layer 142 is a layer at which electrons (or holes)injected through the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 and holes(or electrons) injected through the second conductive semiconductorlayer 143 meet. As the electrons and the holes are recombined andtransitioned to a low energy level, the active layer 142 may generatelight. For example, the active layer 142 may generate light having anultraviolet wavelength band as a peak wavelength. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such a wavelength band.

The active layer 142 may have one structure from among a single-wellstructure, a multi-well structure, a single quantum well structure, amulti-quantum well (MQW) structure, a quantum dot structure, and aquantum-wire structure. For example, the active layer 142 may include awell layer and a barrier layer that are alternately disposed.

The active layer 142 may be formed as a pair structure of one or more ofGaInP/AlGaInP, GaP/AlGaP, InGaP/AlGaP, InGaN/GaN, InGaN/InGaN,GaN/AlGaN, InAlGaN/GaN, GaAs/AlGaAs, and InGaAs/AlGaAs, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, the well layer mayinclude GaInP and the barrier layer may include AlGaInP. Each of thewell layer and the barrier layer may have a thickness of 7 nm, but thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

The active layer 142 may have a thickness of 0.2 μm to 0.7 μm. However,the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, electrons are cooled in the first clad layer 144 so thatthe active layer 142 may generate more radiation recombination.

The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may be disposed on theactive layer 142. The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 mayinclude a second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a and asecond-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b.

The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a may be disposed onthe active layer 142. The second-second conductive semiconductor layer143 b may be disposed on the second-first conductive semiconductor layer143 a.

The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a may include TSBRand P—AlInP. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a may be implementedwith a group III-V or group II-VI compound semiconductor, or the like.The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a may be doped witha second dopant.

The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a may include asemiconductor material having a composition formula ofIn_(x)Al_(y)Ga_(1-x-y)P (0<x<=1, 0<=y<=1, and 0<=x+y<=1) orIn_(x)Al_(y)Ga_(1-x-y)N (0<x<=1, 0<=y<=1, and 0<=x+y<=1). When thesecond conductive semiconductor layer 143 is a p-type semiconductorlayer, the second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may include Mg, Zn,Ca, Sr, Ba or the like as a p-type dopant.

The second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a doped with thesecond dopant may be a p-type semiconductor layer.

The second-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b may be disposedon the second-first conductive semiconductor layer 143 a. Thesecond-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b may include a p-typeGaP-based layer.

The second-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b may include asuperlattice structure of GaP layer/InxGa1−xP layer (0≤x<=1).

In one embodiment, the second-second conductive semiconductor layer 143b may be doped with the second dopant at a predetermined dopingconcentration. For example, the second-second conductive semiconductorlayer 143 b may be doped with Mg at a concentration of about 10×10⁻¹⁸,but the present invention is not limited thereto. Also, thesecond-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b may be formed of aplurality of layers, only some of which may be doped with Mg.

The first electrode 151 may be disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141. The first electrode 151 may be electricallyconnected to the first conductive semiconductor layer 141.

The first electrode 151 may be disposed on a portion of an upper surfaceof the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 in which mesa etching isperformed. Thus, the first electrode 151 may be disposed furtherdownward than the second electrode 152 which is disposed on an uppersurface of the second conductive semiconductor layer 143.

The first electrode 151 may be formed to include at least one amongindium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium zinc tin oxide(IZTO), indium aluminum zinc oxide (IAZO), indium gallium zinc oxide(IGZO), indium gallium tin oxide (IGTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO),antimony tin oxide (ATO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), IZO nitride (IZON),Al—Ga ZnO (AGZO), In—Ga ZnO (IGZO), ZnO, IrO_(x), RuO_(x), NiO,RuO_(x)/ITO, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au/ITO, Ag, Ni, Cr, Ti, Al, Rh,Pd, Ir, Sn, In, Ru, Mg, Zn, Pt, Au, and Hf, but the present invention isnot limited to such materials.

All electrode formation methods that are typically used, such as asputtering method, a coating method, and a deposition method, may beapplied to the first electrode 151.

As described above, the second electrode 152 may be disposed on thesecond-second conductive semiconductor layer 143 b. The second electrode152 may be electrically connected to the second-second conductivesemiconductor layer 143 b.

The second electrode 152 may be formed to include at least one amongindium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), indium zinc tin oxide(IZTO), indium aluminum zinc oxide (IAZO), indium gallium zinc oxide(IGZO), indium gallium tin oxide (IGTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO),antimony tin oxide (ATO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), IZO nitride (IZON),Al—Ga ZnO (AGZO), In—Ga ZnO (IGZO), ZnO, IrO_(x), RuO_(x), NiO,RuO_(x)/ITO, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au/ITO, Ag, Ni, Cr, Ti, Al, Rh,Pd, Ir, Sn, In, Ru, Mg, Zn, Pt, Au, and Hf, but the present invention isnot limited to such materials.

All electrode formation methods that are typically used, such as asputtering method, a coating method, and a deposition method, may beapplied to the second electrode 152.

The insulating layer 160 may cover the sacrificial layer 120, thecoupling layer 130, and the semiconductor structure 140. That is, theinsulating layer 160 may be disposed at outer sides of the sacrificiallayer 120, the coupling layer 130, and the semiconductor structure 140to cover a side surface of the sacrificial layer 120 and a side surfaceof the coupling layer 130. In addition, the insulating layer 160 maycover a portion of an upper surface of the first electrode 151. Withsuch a configuration, the first electrode 151 is electrically connectedto an electrode or pad through an exposed upper surface so that currentmay be injected into the first electrode 151. Like the first electrode151, the second electrode 152 may include an exposed upper surface. Theinsulating layer 160 covers the sacrificial layer 120 and the couplinglayer 130 so that the sacrificial layer 120 and the coupling layer 130may not be exposed to the outside.

The insulating layer 160 may cover a portion of the upper surface of thefirst electrode 151. Also, the insulating layer 160 may cover a portionof an upper surface of the second electrode 152. A portion of the uppersurface of the first electrode 151 may be exposed. A portion of theupper surface of the second electrode 152 may be exposed.

The exposed upper surface of the first electrode 151 and the exposedupper surface of the second electrode 152 may each have various shapes.

In the semiconductor structure 140, the insulating layer 160 mayelectrically separate the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 fromthe second conductive semiconductor layer 143. The insulating layer 160may be formed of at least one selected from the group consisting ofSiO₂, SixO_(y), Si₃N₄, Si_(x)N_(y), SiO_(x)N_(y), Al₂O₃, TiO₂, AlN, andthe like, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Further, upper surfaces S1, S2, and S3 of the semiconductor structure140 according to the embodiment may include a first upper surface S1 onwhich the first electrode 151 is disposed, a second upper surface S2 onwhich the second electrode 152 is disposed, and an inclined surface S3disposed between the first upper surface S1 and the second upper surfaceS2.

Further, the active layer 142 may include first outer side surfaces P1and P2. In addition, the first outer side surfaces may include afirst-first outer side surface P1 and a first-second outer side surfaceP2.

In addition, the semiconductor structure 140 may further include asecond outer side surface S4.

Here, the first upper surface S1 is in contact with the first electrode151 and may be defined as a surface through which the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141 is exposed, and the second upper surface S2 isin contact with the second electrode 152 and may be defined as the uppersurface of the second conductive semiconductor layer 143. In addition,the inclined surface S3 is formed by mesa etching and may be defined asan inclined region disposed between the first upper surface S1 and thesecond upper surface S2. In addition, the first upper surface S1 may bedisposed further downward than the second upper surface S2. In addition,one end portion of the inclined surface S3 may be in contact with thefirst upper surface S1 and the other end portion thereof may be incontact with the second upper surface S2.

In addition, the first-first outer side surface P1 may be defined as aside surface through which the active layer 142 is exposed at theinclined surface S3, and the first-second outer side surface P2 may bedefined as a side surface through which the remaining portion of theactive layer 142 other than the first-first outer side surface P1 isexposed. In addition, the second outer side surface S4 may be defined asa side surface of the semiconductor structure 140 including thefirst-second outer side surface P2.

In addition, the second outer side surface S4 may include a second-firstouter side surface S41, a second-second outer side surface S42, and asecond-third outer surface S43. The second-second outer side surface S42is positioned to face the inclined surface S3, and the second-firstouter side surface S41 and the second-third outer surface S43 may bedefined as outer side surfaces of the light-emitting structure 140positioned between the second-second outer side surface S42 and theinclined surface S3. In addition, hereinafter, a “chip size” refers toan area of the second upper surface S2.

In the semiconductor device according to the embodiment, a ratio of anarea (chip size) of the second upper surface S2 and an area of the firstouter side surfaces P1 and P2 may be in a range of 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01.

In the semiconductor device according to the embodiment, opticalperformance may be enhanced with such a configuration. Specifically, inthe semiconductor device, as the area of the first outer side surfacesP1 and P2 is increased, Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination occursdue to defects on the exposed surface, and carrier loss increases due tothe SRH recombination, and thus optical performance may be degraded. Inaddition, the area of the first outer side surfaces P1 and P2 may bechanged according to the number of pairs of the active layer 142(hereinafter, referred to as the number of well layers/barrier layers oreach number of well layers and barrier layers). For example, when thenumber of pairs of the active layer 142 increases, the area of the firstouter side surfaces P1 and P2 also increases, and thus the carrier lossdue to the SRH recombination may increase.

Further, as the area of the second upper surface S2 is changed, externalquantum efficiency (EQE) may also be changed in the small-sizedsemiconductor device described above. For example, when the area of thesecond upper surface S2 is reduced, the current injection may bereduced, and thus the EQE may be decreased.

Accordingly, when the area of the second upper surface S2 is increasedin order to improve the EQE, the area of the outer side surfaces P1 andP2 of the active layer 142 is also increased, and thus the SRHrecombination caused by the defects of the outer side surfaces P1 and P2may be increased. Thus, in the semiconductor device according to theembodiment, carrier loss and leakage current may be controlled byoptimizing the ratio of the area of the outer side surfaces P1 and P2and the area of the second upper surface S2 so that the opticalperformance may be enhanced.

Further, when the ratio of the area of the second upper surface S2 andthe area of the first outer side surfaces P1 and P2 is less than1:0.0005, there is a problem in that current injection is decreased. Inaddition, when the ratio of the area of the second upper surface S2 andthe area of the first outer side surfaces P1 and P2 is greater than1:0.01, the SRH recombination increases at the first outer side surfacesP1 and P2, and thus there is a problem in that carrier loss increases.

The above contents will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3to 8.

In addition, a first angle θ2 formed between the inclined surface S3 anda virtual horizontal plane may be in a range of 20° to 80°. When thefirst angle θ2 is less than 20°, the area of the second upper surface S2is decreased, and thus optical output power may be degraded. Inaddition, when the first angle θ2 is greater than 80°, the inclinationangle is increased, and thus a risk of breakage due to an externalimpact may be increased.

Also, a second angle θ1 formed between the side surface of thesemiconductor structure 140 and a horizontal plane of the semiconductorstructure 140 may be in a range of 70° to 90°. When the second angle θ1is less than 70°, the area of the second upper surface S2 is decreased,and thus optical output power may be degraded.

In addition, the first-first outer side surface P1 may be disposedcloser to the first upper surface than the second upper surface S2 atthe inclined surface S3. As one example, at the inclined surface S3, aminimum distance between the first-first outer side surface P1 and thesecond upper surface S2 may be less than a minimum distance between thefirst-first outer side surface P1 and the first upper surface S1. Withsuch a configuration, the exposed area of the active layer 142 may bereduced and light efficiency degradation may be prevented. Inparticular, when the first angle θ1 is greater than the second angle θ2as described above, since the area of the first-first outer side surfaceP1 at the inclined surface S3 is greater than the area of thefirst-second outer side surface P2 described above, the light efficiencydegradation due to the carrier loss may be more efficiently prevented.

In addition, the second upper surface S2 may be higher than the firstupper surface S1 by as much as the thickness of the etched portion. Thatis, as the etching becomes deeper, a height difference d3 between thefirst upper surface S1 and the second upper surface S2 may increase.

When the height difference d3 between the first upper surface S1 and thesecond upper surface S2 is greater than 2 μm, the level of the chip maybe deviated during a transfer process. The transfer process may refer tothe operation of transferring a chip from a growth substrate. That is,as a step height increases, it may become difficult for the chip toremain level.

A ratio (d1:d2) of a first minimum height d1 from a bottom surface B1 ofthe semiconductor structure 140 to the second upper surface S2 to asecond minimum height d2 from the bottom surface B1 of the semiconductorstructure 140 to the first upper surface S1 may be in a range of 1:0.6to 1:0.95. When the height ratio (d1:d2) is less than 1:0.6, the stepheight is increased, and thus a defect rate may be increased during atransfer process. When the height ratio is less than 1:0.95, amess-etching depth is decreased, and thus the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141 may not be partially exposed.

The first minimum height d1 from the bottom surface of the semiconductorstructure 140 to the second upper surface S2 may be in a range of 5 μmto 8 μm. That is, the first minimum height d1 may be the entirethickness of the semiconductor structure 140. The second minimum heightd2 from the bottom surface of the semiconductor structure 140 to thefirst upper surface S1 may be in a range of 3.0 μm to 7.6 μm.

In this case, the difference d3 between the first minimum height d1 andthe second minimum height d2 may be 350 nm or more and 2.0 μm or less.When the height difference d3 is greater than 2.0 μm, misalignmentoccurs while a semiconductor device is being transferred, and thus thereis a problem in that it is difficult to transfer the semiconductordevice to a desired position. In addition, when the height difference d3is less than 350 nm, the first conductive semiconductor layer 121 maynot be partially exposed.

When the difference d3 between the first minimum height d1 and thesecond minimum height d2 is less than or equal to 1.0 μm, the uppersurface of the semiconductor structure may become almost flat, and thusthe transfer process may be more easily performed and the occurrence ofcracks may be suppressed. As an example, the difference d3 between thefirst minimum height d1 and the second minimum height d2 may be 0.6μm±0.2 μm, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating light efficiency with respect to currentdensity for each area of the second upper surface shown in Table 1, andFIGS. 4 and 5 are graphs respectively illustrating an S value withrespect to current density and an ideality factor for each area of thesecond upper surface shown in Table 1.

First, FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate experimental results for ComparativeExamples 1 and 2 (#1 and #2) and Examples 1, 2, 3, and 4 (#3, #4, #5,and #6) shown in Table 1 below.

Specifically, Table 1 illustrates semiconductor devices in which thearea of the second upper surface S2 is changed from 15² μm² to 350² μm².In addition, the semiconductor device is composed of a multi-quantumwell (MQW) structure containing n-GaAs, 4.0 μm thickn-(Al_(0.5)Ga_(0.5))_(0.5)In_(0.5)P on n-GaAs, 50 nm thick AlInP onn-(Al_(0.5)Ga_(0.5))_(0.5)In_(0.5)P, and 20 pairs of Ga_(0.5)In_(0.5)P(thickness: 7 nm)/Al_(0.7)Ga_(0.3))_(0.5)In_(0.5)P (thickness: 14 nm) onAlInP, 50 nm thick AlInP on the MQW structure, and 200 nm thickp-Al_(0.5)In_(0.5)P, 0.5 μm thick p-GaP, and 20 nm thick p++-GaP onAlInP. Only the chip size and the number of semiconductor devices werechanged. In addition, in the following, the number of welllayers/barrier layers of the semiconductor device was sometimes changed,but other structures thereof have been applied in the same manner.

TABLE 1 Total area of chip Area of second Number of (=area of secondupper Ratio of area of upper surface semiconductor surface x = numbersecond upper surface (=chip size) devices of semiconductor and area offirst No. (μm × μm = μm²) (pcs) device) (μm × μm = μm²) outer sidesurfaces Comparative 15 × 15 = 225   10 2250 0.0320 Example 1 (#1)Comparative 22 × 22 = 484   10 4840 0.0218 Example 2 (#2) Example 1 (#3)50 × 50 = 2,500  10 25000 0.0096 Example 2 (#4) 100 × 100 = 10,000 110000 0.0048 Example 3 (#5) 150 × 150 = 22,500 1 22500 0.0032 Example 4(#6)  350 × 350 = 122,500 1 122500 0.0014

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that as the ratio of the areaof the second upper surface and the area of the first outer sidesurfaces decreases, the EQE decreases and the S value also decreases. Indetail, it can be seen that the EQE is dependent on the ratio of thearea of the second upper surface and the area of the first outer sidesurfaces in Examples 1, 2, 3, and 4 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2.For example, it can be seen that the EQE is maximized at a high currentdensity as the ratio of the area of the second upper surface and thearea of the first outer side surfaces decreases. In addition, since theEQE of Example 1 (#3) appears to be less than those of Examples 2 and 3(#4 and #5) even when the total area of the second upper surface ofExample 1 (#3) has a great difference from the total area of the secondupper surface of each of Examples 2 and 3 (#4 and #5), it can be seenthat the EQE is controlled according to the ratio of the area of thesecond upper surface and the area of the first outer side surfaces.

In addition, Example 4 (#6) has a great difference in total area fromExamples 1, 2, and 3 (#3, #4, and #5), but has the EQE similar to thoseof Examples 1, 2, and 3 (#3, #4, and #5). Accordingly, it can be seenthat when the ratio of the area of the second upper surface and the areaof the first outer side surfaces is in a range of 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01,SRH recombination decreases so that the EQE is improved.

In addition, as described above, the S value in Examples 1, 2, 3, and 4(#3, #4, #5, and #6) may be less than or equal to 2 at a currentinjection of 0.1 mA/cm². However, it can be seen that the S value isgreater than 2 in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 (#1 and #2) and thus theleakage current increases. Here, S may be defined as ∂ ln L/∂ ln l.

Here, L is defined as L=η_(c)BN², where L refers to optical outputpower, η_(c) refers to coupling efficiency, B refers to a radiativerecombination coefficient, and N refers to a carrier concentration inthe active layer.

That is, it can be seen that when the ratio of the area of the secondupper surface and the area of the first outer side surfaces is greaterthan 1:0.01, the S value increases to a value greater than 2 (thecurrent density is 0.1 A/cm²) so that the leakage current increases,thereby degrading the optical output power.

In FIG. 5, the ideality factor is represented by n_(ideality) whichsatisfies Equation 1 below,

$\begin{matrix}{n_{ideality} = {\frac{q}{kT}\left( \frac{{\partial\ln}\; I}{\partial V} \right)^{- 1}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

where q represents elementary charge, k represents the Boltzmannconstant, and T represents temperature. In addition, I representscurrent and V represents voltage.

In addition, the ideality factor is obtained as a function of thecurrent density, the ideality factor of 2 causes SRH recombination, andwhen the ideality factor exceeds 2, a tunneling phenomenon occurs due todefects and thus carrier loss increases due to the SRH recombination.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the ideality factor is less than 2 inExamples 1, 2, 3, and 4 (#3, #4, #5, and #6), but the ideality factor isclose to 2 in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 (#1 and #2) so that carrierloss increases due to the SRH recombination.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the EQE with respect to current densityfor the number of well layers/barrier layers, FIG. 7 is a graphillustrating the ratio of the area of the outer side surfaces of theactive layer and the area of the second upper surface for the number ofwell layers/barrier layers, and FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating relativeoptical output power with respect to the number of well layers/barrierlayers for the area of the second upper surface.

First, in FIG. 6, it can be seen that in the case of a chip size of 30μm×30 μm and a low current density (5 A/cm² or less), the EQE isrelatively increased as the number of well layers/barrier layersincreases. In the following, the number of well layers/barrier layersmay be equal to the number of pairs of well layers/barrier layers in theactive layer.

In addition, referring to FIG. 7, it can be seen that as the chip sizedecreases, the ratio of the area of the upper surface of the secondconductive semiconductor layer and the area of the outer side surfacesof the active layer increases. In addition, it can be seen that as thenumber of well layers/barrier layers increases, the ratio of the area ofthe upper surface of the second conductive semiconductor layer and thearea of the outer side surfaces of the active layer also increases.

That is, it can be seen that the area of the outer side surfaces of theactive layer (the area of the active layer exposed to the outside) ischanged according to the number of well layers/barrier layers. Forexample, it shows that when the number of well layers/barrier layersincreases, the area of the outer side surfaces of the active layer (thearea of the active layer exposed to the outside) increases.

That is, depending on the factor (the number of well layers/barrierlayers) that changes the area of the outer side surfaces of the activelayer, the ratio of the area of the upper surface of the secondconductive semiconductor layer and the area of the outer side surfacesof the active layer may be changed, and as shown in FIG. 6, the EQE mayalso be changed.

In addition, it can be seen that when the number of well layers/barrierlayers is 30 or less, the ratio of the area of the upper surface of thesecond conductive semiconductor layer and the area of the outer sidesurfaces of the active layer of 1:0.01 or less may be secured.

In addition, FIG. 8 shows that when the chip size is equal to 30² μm²,an optical output power Po increases as the number of welllayers/barrier layers decreases. In contrast, it shows that when thechip size is equal to 1000² μm², the optical output power increases asthe number of well layers/barrier layers increases. Accordingly, it canbe seen that optical output power is improved as the number of welllayers/barrier layers decreases in the size of a chip having one sidewhose length ranges from several micrometers to several hundreds ofmicrometers as in the semiconductor device according to the embodiment.This is also because, when the chip size is less than or equal toseveral hundred square micrometers, the effect of current loss due tothe area of the outer side surfaces of the active layer, which occurs asthe number of well layers/barrier layers increases, is greater than theeffect of improving optical efficiency due to photoelectron distributionresulting from an increase in the number of well layers/barrier layers.

Further, it can be seen that, in a chip size of several hundred squaremicrometers or less, when the number of well layers/barrier layersexceeds 10, optical output power is rapidly degraded. Accordingly, thesemiconductor device according to the embodiment may provide an improvedoptical output power by having the number of well layers/barrier layersof 1 to 10.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device according toanother embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, the semiconductor device according to anotherembodiment may include a semiconductor structure 140, a first electrode131, a second electrode 132, and an insulating layer 160.

The semiconductor structure 140 may include a first conductivesemiconductor layer 141, an active layer 142, and a second conductivesemiconductor layer 143. The semiconductor structure 140 may have astructure in which the first conductive semiconductor layer 141, theactive layer 142, and the second conductive semiconductor layer 143 aresequentially stacked in a first-first direction (X₁-axis direction).

The semiconductor structure 140 may be formed using a metal-organicchemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method, a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) method, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)method, a molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) method, a hydride vapor phaseepitaxy (HVPE) method, a sputtering method, or the like.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may be implemented with acompound semiconductor including a III-V group element, a II-VI groupelement, or the like and may be doped with a first dopant. The firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 may be formed of a semiconductormaterial having a composition formula of Al_(x)In_(y)Ga_((1-x-y))(0=x<=1, 0<=y<=1, and 0<=x+y<=1) or at least one among InAlGaN, AlGaAs,GaP, GaAs, GaAsP, and AlGaInP, but the present invention is not limitedthereto. When the first dopant is an n-type dopant such as silicon (Si),germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like,the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may be an n-type nitridesemiconductor layer.

The first conductive semiconductor layer 141 may have a thickness of 3.0μm to 6.0 μm in the first-first direction (X₁-axis direction), but thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

The active layer 142 may be disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141. In addition, the active layer 142 may bedisposed between the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 and thesecond conductive semiconductor layer 143.

The active layer 142 may have a thickness of 100 nm to 180 nm in thefirst-first direction (X1-axis direction). However, the presentinvention is not limited to such a length, and the length may bevariously changed depending on the size of a semiconductor device 10.

The active layer 142 is a layer at which electrons (or holes) injectedthrough the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 and holes (orelectrons) injected through the second conductive semiconductor layer143 meet. The active layer 142 may transition to a low energy level dueto the recombination of electrons and holes and emit light having awavelength corresponding thereto.

The active layer 142 may have one structure among a single wellstructure, a multi-well structure, a single quantum well structure, amulti-quantum well (MQW) structure, a quantum dot structure, and aquantum wire structure, but the structure of the active layer 142 is notlimited thereto. The active layer may generate light of the visiblelight wavelength range. As an example, the active layer may output lightin one of blue and green wavelength ranges.

The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may be disposed on theactive layer 142. The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may beimplemented with a compound semiconductor including a III-V groupelement, a II-VI group element, or the like and may be doped with asecond dopant. The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may beformed of semiconductor materials having a composition formula ofIn_(x5)Al_(y2)Ga_(1-x5-y2)N (0≤x5<=1, 0<=y2<=1, and 0<=x5+y2<=1) ormaterials selected from among AlInN, AlGaAs, GaP, GaAs, GaAsP, andAlGaInP. When the second dopant is a p-type dopant such as magnesium(Mg), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), or the like,the second conductive semiconductor layer 143 doped with the seconddopant may be a p-type semiconductor layer.

The second conductive semiconductor layer 143 may have a thickness of250 nm to 350 nm in the first direction (X₁-axis direction). However,the present invention is not limited to such a thickness.

The first electrode 131 may be disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141. Here, the first conductive semiconductor layer141 may be partially exposed by etching. The first electrode 131 may bedisposed on the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 exposed byetching.

The first electrode 131 may be electrically connected to the firstconductive semiconductor layer 141. The second electrode 132 may bedisposed on the second conductive semiconductor layer 143. The secondelectrode 132 may be electrically connected to the second conductivesemiconductor layer 143.

The first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may be formed toinclude at least one among indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide(IZO), indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO), indium aluminum zinc oxide (IAZO),indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), indium gallium tin oxide (IGTO),aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tin oxide (ATO), gallium zinc oxide(GZO), IZO nitride (IZON), Al—Ga ZnO (AGZO), In—Ga ZnO (IGZO), ZnO,IrO_(x), RuO_(x), NiO, RuO_(x)/ITO, Ni/IrO_(x)/Au, but the presentinvention is not limited to such materials. As an example, the firstelectrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may include indium tin oxide(ITO), but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

The first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may each have athickness of 40 nm to 70 nm. However, the present invention is notnecessarily limited thereto, and the first electrode 131 and the secondelectrode 132 may have different thicknesses and compositions.

The insulating layer 160 may be disposed on an upper surface and a sidesurface of the semiconductor structure. The insulating layer may includeholes H1 and H2 that partially expose the first electrode 131 and thesecond electrode 132.

The insulating layer 160 may electrically insulate the semiconductorstructure 140 from the outside. The insulating layer 160 may include atleast one among SiO₂, SixO_(y), Si₃N₄, Si_(x)N_(y), SiO_(x)N_(y), Al₂O₃,TiO₂, and AlN, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Unlike the above-described semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 1A,the semiconductor device according to another embodiment may not includean intermediate layer 170, a coupling layer 130, and a sacrificial layer120 that are disposed below the first conductive semiconductor layer141. Except for this structural difference, the contents for theremaining structures may be applied in the same manner as described withreference to FIGS. 1A to 3.

For example, upper surfaces S1, S2, and S3 of the semiconductorstructure 140 may include a first upper surface S1 on which the firstelectrode 151 is disposed, a second upper surface S2 on which the secondelectrode 152 is disposed, and an inclined surface S3 disposed betweenthe first upper surface S1 and the second upper surface S2.

Further, the active layer 142 may include first outer side surfaces P1and P2. In addition, the first outer side surfaces may include afirst-first outer side surface P1 and a first-second outer side surfaceP2.

In addition, the semiconductor structure 140 may further include asecond outer side surface S4.

Here, the first upper surface S1 may be defined as a surface throughwhich the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 is exposed, and thesecond upper surface S2 may be defined as the upper surface of thesecond conductive semiconductor layer 143. In addition, the inclinedsurface S3 is formed by mesa etching and may be defined as an inclinedregion disposed between the first upper surface S1 and the second uppersurface S2.

In addition, the first-first outer side surface P1 may be defined as aside surface through which the active layer 142 is exposed at theinclined surface S3, and the first-second outer side surface P2 may bedefined as a side surface through which the remaining portion other thanthe first-first outer side surface P1 is exposed. In addition, thesecond outer side surface S4 may be defined as a side surface of thesemiconductor structure 140 including the first-second outer sidesurface P2. In addition, the second outer side surface S4 may include asecond-first outer side surface S41, a second-second outer side surfaceS42, and a second-third outer surface S43. The second-second outer sidesurface S42 is positioned to face the inclined surface S3, and thesecond-first outer side surface S41 and the second-third outer surfaceS43 may be defined as outer side surfaces positioned between thesecond-second outer side surface S42 and the inclined surface S3.

Further, in the semiconductor device according to another embodiment, aratio of an area of the second upper surface S2 and an area of the firstouter side surfaces P1 and P2 may be in a range of 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01.In addition, the contents of a first angle, a second angle, and heightsand a difference d1, d2, and d3 may be equally applied.

In addition, the semiconductor device disclosed in FIG. 1A emits redlight, but the semiconductor device according to another embodiment mayemit green light and blue light.

FIGS. 10A to 10F are sequence diagrams illustrating a method ofmanufacturing the semiconductor device according to the embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10A, ions may be implanted into a donor substrate S.The donor substrate S may include an ion layer I. Due to the ion layerI, the donor substrate S may include an intermediate layer 170 disposedat one side and a first layer 171 disposed at the other side. Althoughthis is described below, the intermediate layer 170 may be a layerdisposed on a coupling layer 130 of the semiconductor device in FIG. 12.Thus, the donor substrate S may include the intermediate layer 170 andthe first layer 171.

The ions implanted into the donor substrate S may include hydrogen (H)ions, but the present invention is not limited to such a material. Theion layer I may be disposed to be spaced apart from one surface of thedonor substrate S by a predetermined distance. The ion layer I may bespaced apart from one side surface of the donor substrate S by 2 μm orless. For example, the ion layer I may be formed to be spaced apart fromone side surface of the donor substrate S by 2 μm. That is, theintermediate layer 170 may have a thickness of 2 μm. Preferably, theintermediate layer 170 may have a thickness of 0.4 μm to 0.6 μm.

Referring to FIG. 10B, a sacrificial layer 120 may be disposed between asubstrate 110 and the coupling layer 130. In addition, a separationlayer 180 may be disposed between the substrate 110 and the sacrificiallayer 120.

The substrate 110 may be a transparent substrate including sapphire(Al₂O₃), glass, or the like. Thus, the substrate 110 may transmit laserlight emitted from therebelow. As a result, during laser lift-off, thesacrificial layer 120 may absorb the laser light.

For example, the separation layer 180 may improve the reproduction ofthe substrate 110 which is, for example, a sapphire substrate. Inaddition, the separation layer 180 facilitates a transfer process bylaser lift-off (LLO) to be described below with reference to FIGS. 11Ato 11E. The separation layer 180 may be made of the same material as thecoupling layer 130. For example, the separation layer 180 may includeSiO₂. However, the sacrificial layer 120 may be disposed on thesubstrate 110 without interposing the separation layer 180 therebetween.

Accordingly, the substrate 110, the separation layer 180, thesacrificial layer 120, and the coupling layer 130 may be disposed bybeing stacked in this order. In addition, a coupling layer 130 disposedbelow the intermediate layer 170 disposed on one side surface of thedonor substrate S may be disposed to be adjacent to and face thecoupling layer 130 disposed on the sacrificial layer 120 so that thecoupling layer 130 disposed below the intermediate layer 170 is disposedon the coupling layer 130 disposed on the sacrificial layer 120.

In addition, the coupling layer 130 may include SiO₂ as described above,and the coupling layer 130 disposed on the sacrificial layer 120 may becoupled to the coupling layer 130 disposed below the intermediate layer170 by performing O₂ plasma treatment. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto, and cutting may be performed by a material otherthan oxygen. For example, the coupling layer 130 disposed on thesacrificial layer 120 and the coupling layer 130 disposed below theintermediate layer 170 may have surfaces facing each other on which anetching process such as polishing or annealing is performed.

As a result, the separation layer 180 may be disposed on the substrate110, the sacrificial layer 120 may be disposed on the separation layer180, the coupling layer 130 may be disposed on the sacrificial layer120, and the donor substrate S may be disposed above the coupling layer130 to be spaced apart therefrom. In addition, in the donor substrate S,the coupling layer 130 may be disposed at a lowermost portion of thedonor substrate S, the intermediate layer 170 may be disposed on thecoupling layer 130, and the ion layer I and the first layer 171 may besequentially disposed on the intermediate layer 170.

Referring to FIG. 10C, the intermediate layer 170 separated from thedonor substrate may be disposed on the coupling layer 130. The ion layerI in FIG. 10B may be removed by fluid jet cleaving so that the firstlayer 171 may be separated from the intermediate layer 170.

Here, the first layer separated from the donor substrate may be reusedas a substrate. For example, the separated first layer may be used asthe donor substrate in FIGS. 10A to 10C. Accordingly, the separatedfirst layer may be newly formed of a first layer, an ion layer, and anintermediate layer as a donor substrate. As a result, manufacturing andmaterial cost reduction effects may be provided.

Accordingly, the intermediate layer 170 may be disposed on the couplinglayer 130.

In addition, a semiconductor structure 140 may be disposed on theintermediate layer 170. The intermediate layer 170 may be in contactwith the semiconductor structure 140. Since an upper surface of theintermediate layer 170 may have poor roughness due to voids generated byan ion implantation process and thus defects may be generated duringepitaxial deposition, polishing may be performed on the upper surface ofthe intermediate layer 170 so that the upper surface of the intermediatelayer 170 may be planarized. For example, chemical mechanicalplanarization may be performed on the upper surface of the intermediatelayer 170, and the semiconductor structure 140 may be disposed on theupper surface of the intermediate layer 170 after the planarization.With such a configuration, electrical characteristics of thesemiconductor structure 140 may be improved.

The semiconductor structure 140 may be disposed on the intermediatelayer 170. The semiconductor structure 140 may include a firstconductive semiconductor layer 141 disposed on the intermediate layer170, a first clad layer 144 disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer, an active layer 142 disposed on the first cladlayer 144, and a second conductive semiconductor layer 143 disposed onthe active layer 142. The semiconductor structure 140 may be appliedwith the same contents described with reference to FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 10D, first etching may be performed from an upperportion of the semiconductor structure 140 to a portion of the firstconductive semiconductor layer 141.

The first etching may be wet-etching or dry-etching, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto and various methods may be applied forthe first etching. Before the first etching is performed, a secondelectrode 152 of FIG. 10E may be disposed on the second conductivesemiconductor layer 143 and then patterned as shown in FIG. 10E.However, the present invention is not limited to such a method.

Referring to FIG. 10E, the second electrode 152 may be disposed on thesemiconductor structure 140. The second electrode 152 may beelectrically connected to a second-second conductive semiconductor layer143 b. A lower surface of the second electrode 152 may have a smallerarea than an upper surface of the second conductive semiconductor layer143. For example, an edge of the second electrode 152 may be disposed tobe spaced apart from an edge of the second conductive semiconductorlayer 143 by 1 μm to 3 μm.

All electrode formation methods that are typically used, such as asputtering method, a coating method, and a deposition method, may beapplied to a first electrode 151 and the second electrode 152. However,the present invention is not limited thereto.

Further, as described above, the second electrode 152 may be formedbefore the first etching, and the first electrode 151 may be disposed onan upper surface of the first conductive semiconductor layer 41 etchedand exposed after the first etching.

The first electrode 151 and the second electrode 152 may be disposed atdifferent positions from the substrate 110. The first electrode 151 maybe disposed on the first conductive semiconductor layer 141. The secondelectrode 152 may be disposed on the second conductive semiconductorlayer 143. Thus, the second electrode 152 may be disposed further upwardthan the first electrode 151. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto.

For example, when the first conductive semiconductor layer 141 isdisposed on the second conductive semiconductor layer 143, the firstelectrode 151 may be disposed further upward than the second electrode152.

The first electrode 151 may be disposed on the first conductivesemiconductor layer 141 and electrically connected to the firstconductive semiconductor layer 141. This may be applied with the samecontents described with reference to FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 10F, second etching may be performed up to an uppersurface of the substrate 110. The second etching may be wet-etching ordry-etching, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In thesemiconductor device, the second etching may be performed to a thicknessgreater than that of the first etching.

Through the second etching, the semiconductor device disposed on thesubstrate may be isolated in the form of a plurality of chips. Forexample, referring to FIG. 10F, two semiconductor devices may bedisposed on the substrate 110 through the second etching. The number ofsemiconductor devices may be variously set depending on the size of thesubstrate and the size of the semiconductor device.

In addition, an insulating layer 160 may be disposed to cover thesacrificial layer 120, the coupling layer 130, the intermediate layer170, and the semiconductor structure 140. The insulating layer 160 maycover side surfaces of the sacrificial layer 120, the coupling layer130, the intermediate layer 170, and the semiconductor structure 140.The insulating layer 160 may also cover a portion of an upper surface ofthe first electrode 151. In addition, a portion of the upper surface ofthe first electrode 151 may be exposed. The exposed portion of the uppersurface of the first electrode 151 may be electrically connected to anelectrode pad or the like so that current injection or the like may beperformed. In addition, the insulating layer 160 may also cover aportion of an upper surface of the second electrode 152. A portion ofthe upper surface of the second electrode 152 may be exposed. Like thefirst electrode 151, the exposed portion of the upper surface of thesecond electrode 152 may be electrically connected to an electrode pador the like so that current injection or the like may be performed. Inaddition, a portion of the insulating layer 160 may be disposed on theupper surface of the substrate. The insulating layer 160 disposedbetween adjacent semiconductor chips may be disposed in contact with thesubstrate 110.

FIGS. 11A to 11E are sequence diagrams illustrating a process oftransferring the semiconductor device according to the embodiment to adisplay apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 11A to 11E, a method of manufacturing a displayapparatus according to one embodiment may include selectively emittinglaser light to a semiconductor device including a plurality ofsemiconductor devices disposed on a substrate 110 to separate thesemiconductor device from the substrate and placing the separatedsemiconductor device on a panel substrate. Here, as shown in FIGS. 10Ato 10F, the semiconductor device before the transfer may include aseparation layer disposed on the substrate 110, a sacrificial layerdisposed on the separation layer, a coupling layer disposed on thesacrificial layer, a semiconductor structure disposed on the couplinglayer, a first electrode, a second electrode, and an insulating layer.In addition, the semiconductor structure may include a first conductivesemiconductor layer, a second conductive semiconductor layer, and anactive layer disposed between the first conductive semiconductor layerand the second conductive semiconductor layer.

First, referring to FIG. 11A, the substrate 110 may be the same as thesubstrate 110 that has been described with reference to FIGS. 10A to10F. In addition, as described above, the plurality of semiconductordevices may be disposed on the substrate 110. For example, the pluralityof semiconductor devices may include a first semiconductor device 10-1,a second semiconductor device 10-2, a third semiconductor device 10-3,and a fourth semiconductor device 10-4. However, the present inventionis not limited to such a number, and there may be a variety of numbersof semiconductor devices.

Referring to FIG. 11B, at least one semiconductor device selected fromamong the plurality of semiconductor devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4may be separated from a growth substrate using a transfer mechanism 210.The transfer mechanism 210 may include a first bonding layer 211 and atransfer frame 212 disposed therebelow. As an example, the transferframe 212 may have an irregular structure and may easily bond thesemiconductor devices to the first bonding layer 211.

Referring to FIG. 11C, when the transfer mechanism 210 is moved upwardafter the laser light emission, the first semiconductor device 10-1 andthe third semiconductor device 10-3 may be separated from the transfermechanism 210. In addition, a second bonding layer 310 may be bonded tothe first semiconductor device 10-1 and the third semiconductor device10-3.

Specifically, laser light is emitted to a lower portion of the selectedsemiconductor device to separate the selected semiconductor device fromthe substrate 110. At this time, the transfer mechanism 210 moves upwardand the semiconductor device may also move along the movement of thetransfer mechanism 210. For example, laser light is emitted to lowerportions of regions of the substrate 110 on which the firstsemiconductor device 10-1 and the third semiconductor device 10-3 aredisposed so that the first semiconductor device 10-1 and the thirdsemiconductor device 10-3 may be separated from the substrate 110. Inaddition, in order to separate one semiconductor device at a time, thetransfer mechanism 210 may be formed such that the bonding layer 211 isbonded to one semiconductor device.

For example, laser lift-off (LLO) using photon beams of a specificwavelength band may be applied as a method of separating thesemiconductor device from the substrate 110. For example, the emittedlaser light may have a center wavelength of 266 nm, 532 nm, or 1064 nm,but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, a separation layer 180 and a coupling layer 130 disposedbetween the semiconductor device and the substrate 110 may prevent thesemiconductor device from being physically damaged by the laser lift-off(LLO). The sacrificial layer may be separated from the semiconductordevice by laser lift-off (LLO). For example, a portion of thesacrificial layer may be removed by the separation, and the remainingportion of the sacrificial layer may be separated along with thecoupling layer. Thus, in the semiconductor device, the sacrificial layerand the coupling layer, the semiconductor structure, the firstelectrode, and the second electrode that are layers disposed above thesacrificial layer may be separated from the substrate 110. With such aconfiguration, the separation layer 180 may be left on the substrate110. In addition, a portion of the sacrificial layer may be left on anupper surface of the separation layer, which is not illustrated in thefollowing.

Further, the plurality of semiconductor devices separated from thesubstrate 110 may have a predetermined separation distance from eachother. As described above, the first semiconductor device 10-1 and thethird semiconductor device 10-3 may be separated from the growthsubstrate, and the second semiconductor device 10-2 and the fourthsemiconductor device 10-4, which have the same separation distance asthat between the first semiconductor device 10-1 and the thirdsemiconductor device 10-3, may be separated from the growth substrate inthe same manner. Thus, semiconductor devices separated by the sameseparation distance may be transferred to a display panel.

Referring to FIG. 11D, the selected semiconductor devices may bedisposed on a panel substrate. For example, the first semiconductordevice 10-1 and the third semiconductor device 10-3 may be disposed on apanel substrate 300. Specifically, the second bonding layer 310 may bedisposed on the panel substrate 300, and the first semiconductor device10-1 and the third semiconductor device 10-3 may be disposed on thesecond bonding layer 310. Thus, the first semiconductor device 10-1 andthe third semiconductor device 10-3 may be bonded to the second bondinglayer. With such a method, it is possible to improve efficiency of thetransfer process by placing semiconductor devices having a separationdistance on the panel substrate.

In addition, laser light may be emitted to separate selectedsemiconductor device from the first bonding layer 211. For example,laser light is emitted to an upper portion of the transfer mechanism 210so that the first bonding layer 211 and the selected semiconductordevice may be physically separated from each other.

Referring to FIG. 11E, when the transfer mechanism 210 is moved upwardafter the laser light emission, the first semiconductor device 10-1 andthe third semiconductor device 10-3 may be separated from the transfermechanism 210. In addition, the second bonding layer 310 may be bondedto the first semiconductor device 10-1 and the third semiconductordevice 10-3.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of a display apparatus to which thesemiconductor device according to the embodiment is transferred.

Referring to FIG. 12, the display apparatus including the semiconductordevice according to the embodiment may include a second panel substrate410, a driving thin-film transistor T2, a planarization layer 430, acommon electrode CE, a pixel electrode AE, and the semiconductor device.

The driving thin-film transistor T2 includes a gate electrode GE, asemiconductor layer SCL, an ohmic contact layer OCL, a source electrodeSE, and a drain electrode DE.

The driving thin-film transistor is a driving device and may beelectrically connected to the semiconductor device to drive thesemiconductor device.

The gate electrode GE may be formed along with a gate line. The gateelectrode GE may be covered with a gate insulating layer 440.

The gate insulating layer 440 may be formed of a single layer or aplurality of layers which are made of an inorganic material and may bemade of a silicon oxide (SiO_(x)), a silicon nitride (SiN_(x)), or thelike.

The semiconductor layer SCL may be disposed on the gate insulating layer440 in the form of a predetermined pattern (or island) so as to overlapthe gate electrode GE. The semiconductor layer SCL may be made of asemiconductor material including one of amorphous silicon,polycrystalline silicon, an oxide, and an organic material, but thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

The ohmic contact layer OCL may be disposed on the semiconductor layerSCL in the form of a predetermined pattern (or island). The ohmiccontact layer PCL may be for ohmic contact between the semiconductorlayer SCL and the source and drain electrodes SE and DE.

The source electrode SE may be formed on the other side of the ohmiccontact layer OCL so as to overlap one side of the semiconductor layerSCL.

The drain electrode DE may be formed on the other side of the ohmiccontact layer OCL so as to be spaced apart from the source electrode SEwhile overlapping the other side of the semiconductor layer SCL. Thedrain electrode DE may be formed along with the source electrode SE.

A planarization film may be disposed on the entire surface of the secondpanel substrate 410. The driving thin-film transistor T2 may be disposedinside the planarization film. As one example, the planarization filmmay include an organic material such as benzocyclobutene or photoacryl,but the present invention is not limited thereto.

A groove 450 is a predetermined light-emitting region, and thesemiconductor device may be disposed in the groove 450. Here, thelight-emitting region may be defined as the remaining region excluding acircuit region in the display apparatus.

The groove 450 may be formed to be concave with respect to theplanarization layer 430, but the present invention is not limitedthereto.

The semiconductor device may be disposed in the groove 450. Thesemiconductor device may have a first electrode and a second electrodeconnected to a circuit (not shown) of the display apparatus.

The semiconductor device may be adhered to the groove 450 through anadhesive layer 420. Here, the adhesive layer 420 may be the secondbonding layer, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The second electrode 152 of the semiconductor device may be electricallyconnected to the source electrode SE of the driving thin-film transistorT2 through the pixel electrode AE. In addition, the first electrode 151of the semiconductor device may be connected to a common power line CLthrough the common electrode CE.

The first and second electrodes 151 and 152 may be stepped from eachother, and among the first and second electrodes 151 and 152, theelectrode 151, which is placed at a relatively low position, may bepositioned level with an upper surface of the planarization layer 430.However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The pixel electrode AE may electrically connect the second electrode ofthe semiconductor device to the source electrode SE of the drivingthin-film transistor T2.

The common electrode CE may electrically connect the first electrode ofthe semiconductor device to the common power line CL.

Each of the pixel electrode AE and the common electrode CE may include atransparent conductive material. The transparent conductive material mayinclude a material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide(IZO), but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The display apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention may be implemented to have a standard definition (SD)resolution (760×480), a high definition (HD) resolution (1180×720), afull HD (FHD) resolution (1920×1080), and an ultra HD (UH) resolution(3480×2160) or a UHD or higher resolution (for example: 4K (K=1000), 8K,or the like). In this case, a plurality of such semiconductor devicesaccording to the embodiment may be arranged and connected to each otherdepending on the resolution.

Further, the display apparatus may be an electric signboard or TV with adiagonal size of 100 inches or more, and pixels may be implemented aslight-emitting diodes (LEDs). Accordingly, the display apparatus mayhave low power consumption, low maintenance cost, and a long lifespanand may be provided as a high-brightness self-luminous display.

According to the embodiment, videos and images are realized using thesemiconductor device so that there is an advantage of excellent colorpurity and color reproduction.

According to the embodiment, videos and images are realized using alight-emitting device package of which optical straightness is high sothat a 100 inch or larger display apparatus capable of providing clearpictures may be implemented.

According to the embodiment, a 100 inch or larger display apparatus withhigh definition may be implemented at a low cost.

The semiconductor device according to the embodiment may further includean optical member such as a light guide plate, a prism sheet, and adiffusion sheet and thus may function as a backlight unit. In addition,the semiconductor device according to the embodiment may also be appliedto a display apparatus, a lighting apparatus, and an indicatingapparatus.

Here, the display apparatus may include a bottom cover, a reflectiveplate, a light-emitting module, a light guide plate, an optical sheet, adisplay panel, an image signal output circuit, and a color filter. Thebottom cover, the reflective plate, the light-emitting module, the lightguide plate, and the optical sheet may constitute a backlight unit.

The reflective plate is placed on the bottom cover, and thelight-emitting module emits light. The light guide plate is placed infront of the reflective plate to guide light, which is emitted by thelight-emitting module, forward, and the optical sheet includes a prismsheet or the like and is placed in front of the light guide plate. Thedisplay panel is placed in front of the optical sheet, the image signaloutput circuit supplies an image signal to the display panel, and thecolor filter is placed in front of the display panel.

In addition, the lighting apparatus may include a light source modulehaving the substrate and the semiconductor device of the embodiment, aheat dissipation part configured to dissipate heat of the light sourcemodule, and a power supply configured to process or convert anelectrical signal provided from the outside to provide the electricalsignal to the light source module. Furthermore, the lighting apparatusmay include a lamp, a head lamp, a street lamp, or the like.

Further, a camera flash of a mobile terminal may include a light sourcemodule including the semiconductor device of the embodiment.

While the embodiments have been mainly described, they are only examplesand do not limit the present invention, and it may be known to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications and applications, whichhave not been described above, may be made without departing from theessential properties of the embodiments. For example, the specificcomponents described in the embodiments may be implemented while beingmodified. In addition, it will be interpreted that differences relatedto the modifications and applications fall within the scope of thepresent invention defined by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device comprising: asemiconductor structure including a first conductive semiconductorlayer, a second conductive semiconductor layer, and an active layerdisposed between the first conductive semiconductor layer and the secondconductive semiconductor layer; a first electrode electrically connectedto the first conductive semiconductor layer; and a second electrodeelectrically connected to the second conductive semiconductor layer,wherein a ratio of an area of an upper surface of the second conductivesemiconductor layer and an area of outer side surfaces of the activelayer is in a range of 1:0.0005 to 1:0.01, wherein the semiconductorstructure includes a first upper surface on which the first electrode isdisposed, a second upper surface on which the second electrode isdisposed, and an inclined surface disposed between the first uppersurface and the second upper surface, wherein the active layer includesa first-first outer side surface which is exposed at the inclinedsurface, and a first-second outer side surface other than thefirst-first outer side surface, and wherein the inclined surface forms afirst angle with respect to a virtual horizontal plane, a side surfaceof the semiconductor structure forms a second angle with respect to thehorizontal plane, and the first angle is less than the second angle. 2.The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a first minimumheight from a bottom surface of the semiconductor structure to thesecond upper surface and a second minimum height from the bottom surfaceof the semiconductor structure to the first upper surface is in a rangeof 1:0.6 to 1:0.95.
 3. The semiconductor device of claim 2, wherein adifference between the first minimum height and the second minimumheight is less than 2 μm.
 4. The semiconductor device of claim 1,wherein the active layer includes a well layer and a barrier layer whichare alternately disposed, and the number of each of the well layer andthe barrier layer is from 1 to
 10. 5. The semiconductor device of claim1, further comprising: a coupling layer disposed below the semiconductorstructure; and a sacrificial layer disposed below the coupling layer. 6.The semiconductor device of claim 5, further comprising an intermediatelayer disposed between the coupling layer and the semiconductorstructure, wherein the intermediate layer includes GaAs.
 7. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a minimum distance between thefirst-first outer side surface and the second upper surface is less thana minimum distance between the first-first outer side surface and thefirst upper surface.
 8. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein thefirst angle is in a range of 60° to 80°, the second angle is in a rangeof 70° to 90°, and wherein the first angle is different than the secondangle.